Is It Bi-polar, or Alpha Male Syndrome?

Tim Johnson described a recent experience being on what he termed the Bi-Polar Express with an executive on a project who, for lack of a better term, vociferously questioned Tim's judgment and authority about certain project expenses.

One has to be careful when casting diagnoses with respect to bi-polar disorder in a business context, particularly in the story Tim relates. Instead, I would look at this executive more as an alpha male exhibiting specific negative traits that command-and-control alphas often do - to the detriment of their reports and obviously, the organization. Two very different animals from a treatment and therapy perspective.

A confirmed bi-polar diagnosis in anyone, regardless of station, is almost always much more severe than an exec getting erroneously pissed off at an expense or some other event that they had wished dismissed but came back to bite them in the posterior - or so they thought at the time.  Alpha Male Syndrome is not bi-polar disorder - its how some guys (mostly guys) are wired and how they have achieved some modicum of career success but have stumbling blocks in appropriately dealing with people and situations.

In my life-to-date, I know of 3 people with confirmed diagnoses of bi-polar disorder. All of them are on heavy medication and could not function whatsoever at the level necessary to hold any sort of 'executive' position. The fact that all three hold any jobs at all, much less executive/managerial, is a testament to how insidious this condition is, and the need for proper diagnosis is key.

So, where I'm going with this...don't confuse bipolar conditions with those exhibited by alpha males, and you all can find some of those answers between the two here.

Finally, this post isn't to plug the book, although it was by far the best money I spent while holing up in the SeaTac airport a couple of weeks ago waiting for my canceled flight to Portland to take me home the next morning.

Comments

[Timothy Johnson]

Hi Robert - good assessment. I can see why you might be questioning the bi-polar. The executive in question was definitely alpha male, but it was his behavior over the "long haul" that cinched the bi-polar diagnosis. He could be happy as a clam one moment and turn on a dime and be violently rude the next... all over seemingly nothing. And his reactions were inconsistent (as stated in the article). Issues to which he should have been sensitive and animated were treated with a devil-may-care attitude, while small concerns would cause eruptions. The bi-polar assessment was pretty consistent across his subordinates and peers as well. Some even speculated that he was on medication.

Still, great thoughts in your post. The "alpha male" is also alive and well in corporate America. Based on the limited information I provided in my original post, I think your cautionary assessment is well merited.